21 up lounge: NEED MORE BARTENDERS! There was only 1 bartender, and the line was super long, It took over 30 minutes to get two drinks!

Boba: Boba sucked. It was $4.50 and my matcha green tea boba was: i scoop powder, ice filled to the brim of the blender, and a splash of milk. It tasted so bland and horrible that I had to just throw it away.

The parking: Was horrible because everything was blocked off.

I feel like the security to get into the convention wasn't strict enough. It looked like they just let anyone through.

I feel like this con would be a whole lpt better if they had Japanese food booths outside. The food at the convention is so horrible.

Just a curious question, did anyone happen to see those crazy Christian freaks outside the expo around the afternoon today during day 2? Not to sound stupid but why didn't staff like get them out of the area, and not to sound like a jerk or anything but damn that thing was annoying
-_-

Ugh! They come to my school too, and they just stand there with their annoying signs! I hate it! I have nothing against Christianity itself but I hate when it's basically shoved down my throat....same with any religion, really. >_>

Ugh! They come to my school too, and they just stand there with their annoying signs! I hate it! I have nothing against Christianity itself but I hate when it's basically shoved down my throat....same with any religion, really. >_>

What's even worse is now that they know that AX is held on July 4th weekend, they'll be there every year like the religious protesters of Fanime.

Before I rant, I do want to say I had an amazing time. I was there the entire time, and I had a blast. That being said, there were some bigger issues.

My BIGGEST PROBLEM, was Figueroa being closed at certain points during the day and there wasn't a damn sign anywhere saying what street to go down for Anime Expo. The day prior I had gone my normal route, no problem, next day I was told I had to walk all the way back around to flower and hike on through. The group of people I collected telling them to turn around ended up being huge by the end, it was ridiculous~

Exhibit hall was... oh my gosh. Overwhelming? I've never seen it so crowded before!! I could barely move anywhere

AX Staff. I had some issues with a few people over my gun. Apparently while I was in the cosplay repair center some guy told my BF I needed to get it peace bonded. I was in there for a while so my BF forgot to tell me. I had been running around to panels all day and was running late to start and never got it bonded in the morning. He stopped me later and completely tore into me. "I told you you need to get this thing checked out and you did not listen to me." and he kept going on and on and ON. So I said "Alright, stop right there, you never fucking talked to ME personally about anything, I'll get the damn thing bonded, that's no problem, but stop talking to me like I'm an idiot." Right then a nicer, younger, AX staff member came up and instantly peace bonded my weapon for me. If you're old and grumpy, you should NOT be working at a fucking Anime convention. Sorry, that was my biggest gripe, honestly, he was very, very rude for no reason.

Last Comic Standing was pretty dull this year, I left during intermission. They seemed to forget this was an anime convention (except the first guy I saw) and every single one of them just made racist jokes. So, that kind of sucked, hope the masquerade did better!

All in all I had a pretty fun time. It was very crowded this year considering, but I had a blast regardless

Edit: The dance SUCKED. Music was awful, there were literally pauses in between some songs where there were a couple of seconds of silence, I couldn't pee without being completely kicked out, the line was insane, the music wasn't even all that loud, I shouldn't be able to have a conversation easily with my friends >_> I went Friday night and Sat night and was just in awe about how horrible it was.

Overall: It was extremely lackluster this year. The addition of the 21+ lounge was a nice addition, but overall there was nothing to be excited for. I miss the stage outside in LA Live with that neat laser show. I miss the big booths of neatness from a couple years ago (though I know you don't have control of that). This year was very "panels and exhibit hall and a couple concerts of who?..." I feel Anime Expo needs to have something to hype people up throughout the convention, like that stage in LA Live, it gets people pumped throughout the convention. Get a megaphone and pump up your attendees, be witty. I know you are a larger convention and need to be a little more professional than smaller cons, but I find Anime Expo very bland this year. Maybe have a cool little festival with games. If you can break out of your new typical "panels, exhibit hall and concerts" rotation, you older attendees might get excited for AX again.

I definitely agree with this. I was only there 2 days, but I felt like this year's AX was kind of 'meh'. I mean, overall I had a pretty good time (and eating at the Food Trucks was awesome!), but there wasn't much to look forward to (program-wise) on my behalf other than Magic Macabre and Anime Singled Out. Saturday's program seemed plain boring, with nothing that caught my eye-- I actually ended up leaving relatively early that day. I really hope there will be a better program next year, because as of now, I'm not super hyped up for AX '13. :/

Way, WAY too crowded, even without the X-Games stuff, it appeared most of the people in the center were for the con and not X-Games random curiosity overflow.

Sea of humanity Comic-Con levels without the interesting panels or exhibits. Large amounts of disrepectful people touching or messing with costumes as we walked by or had not respect for a cosplayer's personal space or the fact we're trying to hold a gathering and when we say back up, it means back up.

Also regarding the dealers hall, honestly, if you're goint to leave that giant space on the other side full of practicaly nothing, at least widen the walkway asiles.

At least we lucked out on parking, $10 bucks at the LA live parking structure.

I had reservations about Expo last year, but this is the last year I'll be going.

It didn't seem to be any more people than the last few years, but there was pretty much nowhere to hang out in the area due to the X-Games taking up space outside of West Hall, and the Firefall setup taking a large chunk of the space outside of South Hall, so everyone hung out inside.

I have rooms in the J.W. Marriott, and I didn't like wandering back and forth underneath the Big Air Ramp, So I would only make one trip to the LACC per day, spending hours there since walking through two parking lots and under the structure wasn't much fun.

I'll post a full-post game after I go home. I have an extra night to chill in the hotel, and I am going to get my rest.

Can anyone please provide info on how autographs were managed this year? Also, did they announce the dates and location for next year (I know this probably won't be answered either late tonight or tommorow)?

I feel like this con would be a whole lpt better if they had Japanese food booths outside. The food at the convention is so horrible.

Though it's not directly outside the convention center, there were food trucks in the lot on pico less than a block outside the South Hall entrance. I didn't really pay attention to all the food trucks there since I already knew what I wanted to get from the start, but they did have really good boba, takoyaki, and tempura. ^^ ; I think there were also waffles, crepes, burgers... etc. from other trucks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by El_Duque

Also, did they announce the dates and location for next year (I know this probably won't be answered either late tonight or tommorow)?

I got an e-mail saying that AX '13 will be at the LACC again, July 4-7.